The Simpsons

You guys are in for a real treat this week! This episode was recorded live in Portland, Oregon with our special guest Bill Oakley. He'll give us a behind the scenes look at parts one and two of "Who Shot Mr. Burns." But there's more, a behind the scenes look at Bill's fast food reviews on Instagram. Please enjoy this super-sized episode – it's going to be a blast!

We love a good off season Treehouse of Horror conversation. This week, Story Break's Will Campos (Video Game High School, Hulu's RocketJump: The Show, and Dimension 404) joins us to chat about Treehouse of Horror III. We'll also talk about the things that terrified us as kids including: Mars Attacks, A Clockwork Orange and the Twilight Zone. This episode, probably has one of the best Treehouse of Horror gags burned into your memory, too. Yep … we're gonna talk about Frozen Yogurt … which we call Frogurt! It's good! But it's cursed … and that's bad!

We're kicking things off this year with Billy West! You know him as the voice actor behind some really memorable animated characters from your childhood including Ren, Stimpy, and Doug Funnie on Doug. Plus, a number of voices on Futurama, including Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, Philip J. Fry, and many many more. This episode is such a delight and you can bet we're getting plenty of samples of his voice work. Geek out and flip out when you hear all the voices he's got in store for us as we discuss "Dancin' Homer."

This week, Mad Magazine's Casey Boyd joins us to chat about "Homer the Vigilante." We'll discuss the work of John Swartzwelder at length – and how his writing has influenced a very specific type of voice in comedy. We'll also chat Conan, dog songs, and Detective Pikachu. It's the last episode of 2018 and we're glad that we get to end it with a Swartzwelder episode. Cheers!

It's crazy to think we've been doing this podcast for so long and no one has picked the first episode of The Simpsons. That's all about to change! This week, Alonso Duralde relives his memories of watching "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." You know Alonso as a film critic for the The Wrap. He's also one of panelist on "Who Shot Ya?" from Maximum Fun, and the co-host of the pod Linoleum Knife.

Most importantly for today's purposes Alonso is a Christmas expert and has a book to prove it called "Have yourself a movie little Christmas." We'll discuss how this episode was a perfect way to introduce the Simpsons to a mainstream audience. Plus, we'll sing some carols and share some last minute Christmas tips!

This week, comedian Allen Strickland Williams dishes his favorite moments from HOMЯ. Allen has been featured on Conan, and was recently named Comedy Central Comic to watch. Make sure to keep an eye out for Allen's new Comedy Central half hour special in January. Allen explains why this episode is a lot sadder than he recalls when he first saw it as a kid. Plus, Allie explains why Bing.com is naughty and Julia discusses the joys of Shark Tank. Don't worry there's plenty of Simpsons, too! Relive the heartbreaking episode with us.

This week, Emmy-award winning voice actor Maurice LaMarche chats about his voiceover appearances in The Simpsons. If you don't know Maurice by name you certainly know his iconic voice work – he's probably best known as The Brain in "Animaniacs" and "Pinky and the Brain." His work can also be heard on "Futurama," "Disenchantment" and many other video games, animated series, television shows and films. He'll tell us the personal connection he had to the character he voiced in "What Animated Women Want." We'll spend a lot of time discussing Maurice's career including his contributions to "The Critic," and his time as a stand-up comic. He also chats about what it was like to join Julie Kavner and Dan Castellaneta in studio for his appearance in this episode. You don't want to miss this one – he'll gives us a taste of his fantastic impressions and even share some techniques if you want to make some authentic barf sounds.

With the holidays right around the corner we've got a special treat to show how thankful we are for all of you. This week, we're bringing back Al Jean! The longtime Simpsons showrunner returns to the Max Fun studios – this time around he joins us to discuss his contributions to "It's Garry Shandling's Show." We'll get the scoop on this cult hit, which shares a lot of DNA with the Simpsons. And just like last time he'll sprinkle in some Simpsons trivia throughout our conversation.

This week, we dig into the ECUS archives! We know people are already setting up holiday decorations… but we are still craving Halloween candy. Nick Wiger (Comedy Bang Bang, I Love You America with Sarah Silverman, Doughboys) spooks Allie and Julia with a discussion on Treehouse of Horror V!

This episode was produced before "Everything's Coming Up Simpsons" was on the Max Fun Network.

Stand-up comedian and writer Blaine Capatch joins us this week to talk about "The Mansion Family." It's not from the golden era, and it's newer episode than most episodes we usually discuss. Which is weird to say considering the episode is actually 18 years old. We'll discuss the Britney Spears cameo in this episode, why it's important to read the Hardy Boys book series, and the funniest things ever to happen in international waters. Plus, what it's like to sit in on a Simpsons table read according to Blaine!